Our pick of the pops, June 2008

Christine Delaroche

Une fleur
Christine Delaroche made her name in the 1965 French TV series Belphégor. Almost inevitably, this led to an offer of a recording contract. A number of her releases have turned up on femme pop compilations, but, surprisingly, not this one. She didn’t enjoy any great success as a singer and instead continued to focus her efforts on her acting career. Interestingly, in 1977, she appeared in a couple of episodes of the British series the New Avengers.

MarisolCorazón contento
Born Josefa Flores González in Malaga, Marisol became a star of the Spanish silver screen from the age of 12, after starring in the 1960 film Un rayo de luz. Numerous frothy records were issued to cash in on her further movie appearances, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s that the young beauty became a serious singer. Corazón contento, issued in the summer of 1968, proved a big hit. In the 1970s she returned to acting full-time and dropped the name Marisol in favour of Pepa Flores.

Tessy WeberSteine sind so kalt
So often the German girls’ best songs were consigned to B-sides. That’s certainly the case for young Tessy Weber. Here, Tessy – a kind of German answer to Marianne Faithfull – delivers a confident vocal on the mournful Steine sind so kalt. Our heartbroken heroine is glad that the houses in her hometown are cold and silent, as this means they can’t ask her what’s wrong. If they could, they’d know that her man has left her. Sniff.

Jackie TrentLove is me, love is you
Despite topping the UK charts in May 1965 with Where are you now (my love), Jackie Trent never really made it into the ranks of Britain’s most successful girl singers. That’s probably because her duties as lyricist for boyfriend Tony Hatch’s tunes often left her having to choose between her own recording career and providing material for Petula Clark. That’s a pity, because she certainly dished up some top musical fare, including this stonking single, issued in 1966.

Donatella MorettiNon m’importa più
Italy’s Donatella Moretti is perhaps best remembered for singing Ti vedo uscire, which Britain’s Cilla Black took into the UK top ten after re-recording it as Don’t answer me. (French singer Séverine was less successful with her version.) Donatella scored a string of small-ish hits between 1962 and 1965 and took part in various Italian song festivals, including San Remo and Cantagiro. Our choice is Non m’importa più, another crowd pleaser – well, with us anyway.

Conny van den BosMijn man
Dutch singer Conny (or Jacoba Hollestelle, as her parents knew her), from The Hague, first came to the public’s attention when she took part in the 1961 Knokke Cup. Four years later she represented her country in the Eurovision song contest with ‘T is genoeg. Our pick was a hit for her in 1967 and is a cover of Just like a man, originally recorded by Emma Rede, aka Irish singer Jackie Lee. (A German version was also issued by Simone.)